LORT Numbers:
A So Cal Professional Theater Progress Report

2014/15 Female Artists = 29.5% writers and 30.5% directors

September, 2014 – The numbers are in for the 2014/2015 announced regular seasons for the nine professional LORT stages in the Southern California region: Geffen Playhouse, Ahmanson, Mark Taper Forum, Kirk Douglas Theatre, South Coast Rep, La Jolla Playhouse, Old Globe, Pasadena Playhouse and Laguna Playhouse.

Out of the 57 LORT shows announced, LA FPI calculates that about 29.5% are female-authored, and about 30.5% are directed by women. This is up significantly from 2013-2014 numbers: 16% for both women writers and directors.

2013/14 Female Artists = 16% writers and directors

October, 2013 – The numbers are in for the 2013/2014 announced regular seasons for the nine professional LORT stages in the Southern California region: Geffen Playhouse, Ahmanson, Mark Taper Forum, Kirk Douglas Theatre, South Coast Rep, La Jolla Playhouse, Old Globe, Pasadena Playhouse and Laguna Playhouse.

Out of the 67 LORT shows announced, LA FPI calculates that about 16% are female-authored, and about 16% are directed by women. This is down significantly from 2012-2013 numbers: 22% for women writers and 25% for women directors.

2012/13 Female Artists = 22% writers and 25% directors

June 2012 – The numbers are in for the 2012/2013 announced regular seasons for the nine professional LORT stages in the Southern California region: Geffen Playhouse, Ahmanson, Mark Taper Forum, Kirk Douglas Theatre, South Coast Rep, La Jolla Playhouse, Old Globe, Pasadena Playhouse and Laguna Playhouse.

Out of 69 LORT shows announced, LA FPI calculates that about 22% are female-authored, and about 25% are directed by women. This was the first year a count was conducted for female directors.

These numbers tell us that that shows by female theatermakers (playwrights, composers, lyricists, conceivers) in Southern California are about the same from the 2011/2012 season.

2011/12 Female Artists = 22.5% writers

2011/12’s LA FPI Study put the percentage of plays written by women at 22.5% for eight local theaters (Pasadena Playhouse was not included in these numbers).